Army Assistant Sec'y Parker Is Fired

JOHN HEILPRIN

Published 6:00 pm, Tuesday, March 5, 2002

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Former Mississippi Congressman Mike Parker was fired Wednesday as assistant secretary of the Army after he criticized the Bush administration's proposed spending cuts on Army Corps of Engineers' water projects.

The Pentagon issued a brief statement saying Parker had resigned, but lawmakers in both parties and lobbyists said it was only after he was given an ultimatum earlier Wednesday to resign or be fired.

"The department appreciates Mr. Parker's contributions and wishes him the best in his future endeavors," the Pentagon said in a statement that made no mention of the reason for Parker's departure.

"Apparently he was asked to resign," said Rep. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., a member of the House Appropriations Committee's energy and water development subcommittee that oversees the Corps' budget. "The administration has taken a step backwards in its efforts" to mend relations with the subcommittee, Wicker said.

Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, also said Parker had been dismissed.

Parker, 52, the civilian administrator for civil projects for the Army Corps of Engineers, is the first visible high-level political appointee in the Bush administration to be dismissed. A five-term member of the U.S. House, he switched from the Democratic to Republican Party in 1995 and lost a tight race for governor of Mississippi in 1999.

In his budget submission last month, President Bush proposed cutting the Corps of Engineers' budget by 10 percent to $4.175 billion, excluding federal retirees' pensions and benefits. The Corps had requested more than $6 billion.

At a hearing before the Senate Budget Committee last week, Parker said the cuts would require the Corps to cancel $190 million in already contracted projects providing 4,500 jobs.

"After being in the administration and dealing with them, I still don't have warm and fuzzy feelings for them," he testified before the committee. "I'm hoping that OMB (the White House Office of Management and Budget) understands we're at the beginning of the process. If the Corps is limited in what it does for the American people, there will be a negative impact."

Conrad said he intends to ask administration officials if Parker's dismissal was because of his testimony.

"If the administration is firing him for that, I believe that is a serious mistake on their part and is going to have an adverse effect on relations with the Congress," he said. "You cannot fire people who come up and answer questions honestly."

The White House said it would have no comment on Parker beyond what the Pentagon said. However, after his testimony before congressional panels, it was felt that Parker was not on the president's team, said one administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Over the past two years, Corps officials were questioned at several congressional hearings on accusations the agency rigged cost-benefit analyses to justify expanding locks on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers sought by powerful agribusiness interests.

Howard Marlowe, a lawyer and lobbyist on waterway issues, said Parker was given a choice about noon Wednesday of tendering his resignation or being fired and was told he had 30 minutes to decide. He then resigned, according to Marlowe and congressional officials.

Rep. Sonny Callahan, R-Ala., who chairs the House Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over Corps spending, said he was surprised and disappointed by Parker's resignation.

"I am quite concerned that this announcement is the result of pressure applied by lower level administration officials and regret the events of recent days have resulted in this action," Callahan said.

Industry groups who have sided with the administration on environmental issues criticized Parker's departure.

"That's nothing new for people in his position _ being in hot water," said Harry N. Cook, president of the National Waterways Conference in Washington. "The civil works budget has not for many years enjoyed high priority within the administration."

However, environmental groups who have been among the most fervent critics of Bush said they were glad to see Parker go.

"There are clearly strong advocates within the Bush administration for reforming the Army Corps, and Mike Parker was not one of them," said Environmental Defense senior attorney Tim Searchinger.